Print PageSend to friend

The Cote family may soon have to think about moving to a bigger place. “I thought this would be a family thing,” Sonia Cote said after the second annual Saffi’s Walk: Spirit Wheel Walk and Run event

Saturday raised nearly $6,000 for the Spina Bifida and Hydocephalus Association of Ontario. What started as a simple event to help raise awareness of spina bifida, has become much more for the Ridgeway family. “If we get too many people, maybe we’ll have to move it to the arena,” Sonia said after 76 people turned out to walk a 3 1/2-kilometre route from the Cote’s home on Gorham Road through downtown Ridgeway and back again.

“It’s a walk that starts at our house and goes to my mom’s house it’s our walk to grandma’s house,” Sonia said of the route which has its origin in the daily walks she Saffron, 5, and sister Piper, 2, would take to visit with Sonia’s mom, Kathy Cooke.

Spina Bifida is a condition where during early fetal development, either the brain and spine or the spine alone fail to develop properly. In Canada, one of every 2,500 babies is born with some degree of spina bifida. Sonia and her husband, Paul, learned of Saffron’s condition about a month before her birth in late June 2005.

Saffron has received physical therapy at the Niagara Penisula Childrens Centre in St. Catharines since she was nine months old. She learned crawl at 17 months and has walked (with bracing and major assistance) at 25 months. She now walks unassisted (she wears ankle/foot braces 24/7) for short to medium distances and uses her wheelchair or wagon for long distances, Sonia said.

She and Saffron, or Saffi as she is affectionately called, are fixtures on their walks about town and Saffi’s condition is often the subject of questions and served as an inspiration to start up the event.

“Originally, one of the goals was to make it (spina bifida) a household word,” Sonia said. “We were putting it out there. The money raised is a side effect. It’s a good side effect.”

Saffron kicked off Saturday’s walk by stepping up to sing O Canada to the group, something which impressed her mom.

“She said she was going to do it,” Sonia said. “She did an awesome job.”

The number of participants was up slightly from the 2010 walk, with 76 participants but the family was pleased with how the event unfolded, Sonia said.

“We only had 10 or 11 more people than last year but we had people who put in a lot of effort fundraising,” Sonia said.

She hopes that as Saffi gets older — she is currently in senior kindergarten at Stevensville Public School — that her classmates will begin to get involved in the cause. This year, she said, the kids at Stevensville Public jumped on board and made signs for the walk. “It was fantastic,” Sonia said.

All funds raised go directly to the SB&H, Sonia said, adding local business such as Joe’s Valumart, Sobeys, No Frills, John’s Shell gas bar, Ridgeway Downtown Dollar and Discount, and Robo Mart chipped in to help with a post-walk barbecue.

By Richard Hutton, Niagara This Week

Read more Fort Erie Times and Fort Erie Times 2